Yes, Madam Prime Minister

"A communal pot of food?" Dinia didn't quite understand.

“It’s just that some people are lazy and only expect others to do the work, so everyone is lazy and the efficiency becomes even lower than before when everyone was looking after themselves in the village,” Ronan explained. “But if the collective farm is full of people from the original village, everyone knows each other, and there are enough people to supervise, you can’t say that the problem of the communal dining system is completely eliminated, but at least the bad apples won’t dare to show up easily.”

Although Ronan was a "rightist," he always felt that the collective system was the best system imaginable in rural areas of the plains.

However, sometimes taking too big a step can lead to trouble.

"Of course, after a few years, once everyone gets used to the collective farms, they should be gradually merged. Mayor, your vision is far-sighted and has already pointed the way for the future."

Ronan said.

Of course, the leader's opinion cannot be completely rejected.

Dinia was already numb to Ronan's flattery. After a moment's thought, she asked, "How long will it take before the merger begins?"

Ronan glanced at the door to make sure it was firmly closed before speaking, "If I were answering the mayor, I would say three years. If I were answering my friend Dinia, I would say twenty years. Reforms like this require at least a generation's effort. If you're eager to achieve political achievements, it's better not to reform at all. There's no need to set up collective farms. Just win over the landowners, arrange things well with the councilors, and it'll be incredibly easy to boost your political achievements. After you're done, you'll even hear them singing your praises."

Dinia sighed. "Fine, I'll do as you say." Twenty years? She could only serve one full term, which is three years.

“Yes, Madam Mayor,” Ronan replied.

"How are your exam preparations going?" Dinia asked again.

“I added some math problems and completely removed some of the extra points,” Ronan replied, then explained, “This is fairer.”

In terms of political insight, young people born into old immigrant families cannot compare with new immigrants, because in the past, almost all officials came from new immigrant families.

If the majority of the questions are political, older immigrants will not be able to outperform newer immigrants.

As for the special bonus points, namely the so-called talent bonus points, they are undoubtedly exclusive to the privileged class. If this is still in place, the people recruited will definitely still be new immigrants.

“I’m practically becoming public enemy number one in New Sea City now,” Ronan said with a laugh.

This is obviously a deliberate attempt to elicit sympathy.

But why not play the victim if you can? Playing the victim is politics, it's not shameful.

Chapter 122 Two Bowls of Noodles, A Crow's Mouth, Operation Fox Hunt

In fact, Ronan has already extended the reach of his consulting firm to the fullest extent by taking advantage of his position. Before long, he will become the leading capital player in Xinhai City and will be able to control agriculture through collective farms and seed companies. At that time, he will have control over both industry and agriculture and become the biggest "progressive force" in Xinhai City.

Anyone who dares not to "progress" will be overthrown.

As for Ronan making a lot of money in the meantime, well, you can't carry out reforms on an empty stomach, right? With the spring breeze of reform blowing, Ronan's wallet is bulging.

Thinking about this, Ronan felt his motivation increase even more.

"You go ahead and get busy," Dinia waved for Ronan to leave.

As soon as Ronan stepped out of the mayor's office, he met "Mute" Leon. He and "Blind" Seth were Ronan's right-hand men in the Wright City Hall. Seth was a baby-faced man who loved to laugh. He mainly helped Ronan sort out documents and convey instructions, so he was a secretary. He was nicknamed "Blind" because he had the special skill of pretending not to see things and never tattled on others.

"Mute" Leon is a sickly-looking man who is responsible for collecting and reporting information to Ronan. He is Ronan's intelligence agent. The nickname "mute" comes from the fact that he hardly speaks to anyone other than Ronan.

“Something has happened to Miss Elena,” said the mute Leon.

"Huh?" Ronan exclaimed in surprise.

Since the last incident, Elena has been very vigilant. No one with strength above the third rank could possibly pose a threat to her, let alone someone like Dinia whose surveillance capabilities are ridiculously strong. Clearly, it's not that mysterious organization.

If it weren't for a mysterious organization, what could possibly happen to Elena? Excluding Ronan, Dinia, and a few others, there are no more than ten true magicians in New Sea City.

“Yesterday she ate a bowl of noodles at a restaurant, paid the bill and left, but the owner suddenly chased after her and said she ate two bowls and only paid for one.”

"Then the two started arguing, and finally a police officer testified before the boss admitted that he had made a mistake."

"Unexpectedly, the boss was found dead this morning from the impact of magic, and his wife and children are currently causing trouble at the police station."

The mute Leon recounted the whole story in just three sentences.

"Understood. Go tell the blind man to continue working as usual and ignore him," Ronan instructed.

The mute Leon nodded and then left.

Ronan immediately returned to Dinia's office, much to Dinia's surprise. Why was Ronan back again?

“I’ve become a jinx now. Here’s what happened…” Ronan recounted the events, “It’s obvious that what I just said has come true. I’m now public enemy number one.”

"What are you going to do about it?" Dinia asked, snapping her fingers to seal off the office.

Ronan calmly replied, "Let Agustina arrest Elena and lock her up first. Keep her locked up without any investigation, and just say to the public that an investigation is underway."

"Aren't you going to try to clear her name?" Dinia asked.

"It's clearly a setup. The real culprit is probably no longer in Xinhai City. It will be difficult to find evidence to prove Elena's innocence in the short term. Even if we do find it, so what? The other party's goal was not to frame her. Even if her innocence is proven, the public will only say that I forcibly protected her. After all, stories of powerful people protecting their evil servants are too popular among citizens."

"In the end, they just want to damage my reputation, question my impartiality, and eventually remove me from my position as the head of this recruitment exam."

"In that case, let's play along and have some fun."

Ronan smiled.

"What do you plan to do?" Dinia's gaze turned cold as well.

"Let me tell you a story that the citizens like to hear: some powerful people in the new immigrant class bribed me so that their children could become officials."

Ronan said.

"That's it?" Dinia asked.

“That’s it,” Ronan said. “This one thing is enough to anger the old immigrant community, and then Mayor, you suspended me temporarily and announced a full investigation into this bribery case.”

Dinia tried to guess, "And then you go and arrest those you think are the conspirators?"

“Arrest them? No,” Ronan said. “I’ll personally kill a few of the most suspicious ones, and then spread rumors that it was an internal affair of theirs to avoid being implicated in this bribery case.”

"Once I kill a few, they will naturally try their best to prove my innocence, and Elena's innocence."

"To be honest, if they don't cause trouble, I won't have a chance to deal with them. But since they insist on causing trouble, I'll just take the opportunity to kill all the unreliable people in the city hall."

Ronan said, still with a nonchalant expression, as if killing someone was as simple as going fishing at the beach.

"How many do you want to kill?" Dinia asked. She didn't mind killing people; in terms of killing, she had killed far more people than Ronan.

However, with so many bureaucrats dying, as mayor, she has to consider the impact.

“At most five or six, not many,” Ronan replied, adding, “Actually, publicly arresting people can easily cause serious consequences. It’s easier to deal with people if they disappear without a trace.”

Dinia said, "Give me a list of the people you want to kill first."

“Yes, Madam Mayor,” Ronan replied with a smile. “As for the preparations for the exam, Yvette will temporarily take charge.” Yvette, as Ronan’s nominal number one assistant, was naturally involved as well. Moreover, she was originally a teacher, so handling the preliminary work for the exam was no problem for her, especially with the help of the blind man.

Dinia nodded in agreement.

That afternoon, Agustina personally led a group to arrest Elena. Under Agustina's subtle hints, Elena cooperated fully and went to prison.

That night, in the area of ​​Calais, located to the left of the former city of Wright, where no one lived permanently except for the Bellflower Estate, where only the wine cellar was still functioning, there was a faint light.

Nine men were drinking in the backyard of the main house to celebrate the initial success of Operation Fox Hunt.

"Even a sea fox, once we old hunters and fishermen come together, is nothing more than prey."

"However, our dear Secretary-General is quite capable; he arrested the person directly, leaving no grounds for complaint."

"But it's no use. Whether he can prove his maid's innocence or not, once the public opinion is raised, he himself will be questioned."

"Do you think he might fabricate charges to arrest us?"

"He doesn't know exactly who it is. If he makes a large-scale arrest, the impact will be enough to make everyone unite and demand his resignation."

"If he arrests us, he'll be courting disaster."

"Given his intelligence, he should have dealt with the matter of his maid's alleged murder in a low-key manner at this point, then created something else to divert attention, and finally, as a last resort, revised his exam plan."

"Sigh, we don't really want to be his enemy, but it's just that he's so obedient to that female mayor, it's too much."

"You can't blame him for this. If you could all get on the coattails of that female mayor, it would be the same for you."

"Haha, I'd love to hug her, but this beautiful lady only has eyes for handsome young men."

"Speaking of which, I recently acquired a pair of twins. Although their looks are only average, but..."

As the alcohol took effect and they were in good spirits, the group of older men quickly shifted their conversation to other topics.

Chapter 123 Rumors, Rumors, and they're still just rumors!

Three days later, another rumor replaced the two days' much-discussed story of the secretary-general's maid murder: a group of officials bribed the secretary-general in an attempt to cheat on the civil service exam to ensure the recruitment of more new immigrants.

Compared to the murder case, this incident has attracted much more attention because whether or not a murder occurred is actually irrelevant to the citizens' own interests; it's just something to talk about. However, the civil service exam is directly related to the citizens' interests.

Most of the workers and farmers in Xinhai City are former immigrants. This recruitment drive has put many positions open to police officers and grassroots civil servants who will be assigned to collective farms. The former immigrants naturally want to be managed by their own people and do not want to be dominated by the new immigrants.

The new immigrants, of course, are unwilling to be overshadowed by the old immigrants they have suppressed for decades, especially the large number of new immigrants who are doing very poorly and can only sell their labor. In the past, they could rely on their status as new immigrants and look down on the old immigrants along with the powerful and wealthy among the new immigrants, treating the old immigrants as natives. But if the old immigrants become officials, their sense of superiority will have nowhere to go. Without their sense of superiority, what difference is there between them and the old immigrants?

Soon, more explosive news arrived: the mayor announced that Secretary-General Ronan had been temporarily suspended from his duties and was to rest at home. Meanwhile, the investigation into the bribery and corruption case would be handled by the Bureau of Inspectorate.

That night, the nine people behind the scenes gathered again.

"You were right, they really are planning to arrest someone."

"Unfortunately, he has no idea who we are. If he makes a large-scale arrest, he won't be able to continue as the secretary-general."

"It's probably just a way to divert public attention; those inspectors didn't actually take any action."

"I have a question: what if he's unwilling to back down and just keeps dragging this out?"

“If we keep dragging it out, he’ll be suspended indefinitely, which is impossible.”

"Just wait and see, we'll have the results in a few days."

"To be honest, he made a bad move. He used the exam as an excuse, but when he backed down, few of the old immigrants passed. In their minds, he was guilty of taking bribes and became someone they didn't trust. It wouldn't be so easy for him to use the old immigrants to play the balance game again. Even the collective farm might face protests, and the female mayor would lose face."

"I didn't expect this guy to make a mistake too."

"He's only human; people make mistakes when they're anxious."

"No more talking, let's drink."

After a brief discussion, the group resumed drinking.

"I don't think things will change any further. It's the weekend, so we should go somewhere more interesting. This dark place is really boring."

"That's right, it's time to find a place to relax."

"Bring the twins you mentioned last time as well."

"no problem."

A group of old men exchanged knowing smiles.

The following Thursday night, after having dinner with a few people at a fancy restaurant, Bonova left without even drinking much wine and took a carriage to one of his properties in the city, where he would house the twins.

I don't drink alcohol to stay sober; some things are only exciting when you're fully awake.

Bonova was pondering what new tricks to play when suddenly there was a thud from the roof of the carriage. He instinctively looked up, and instantly, a sword pierced through the roof, passing through his forehead and skull, and plunged directly into his brain.

Before he could utter a sound, Bonova died, still sitting, with that slightly parted, curious expression.

The coachman driving the carriage was completely unaware that his employer was dead and continued driving.

About forty minutes later, the carriage arrived at its destination. The coachman stopped the carriage, got out, and placed a small stool for his employer to get off. He asked his employer to get off, but after calling him several times, his employer did not respond. The coachman thought his employer had drunk too much and fallen asleep, so he lifted the curtain. In the instant, he was so frightened that he stumbled and fell to the ground.

His employer died.

Meanwhile, Ronan had already answered his family's call.

He killed Bonova primarily because Bonova was highly suspicious. He wasn't an official, but his son was, and his son had been demoted by Ronan. Bonova himself was a large landowner and the current vice president of the New Sea City Agricultural Mutual Aid Association. The collective farm and seed company would greatly weaken his influence, so he had every reason to target Ronan.

Secondly, this man is a philanderer. You should know that women in the kingdom can marry at the age of fourteen, so when Ronan says he is a philanderer, he means that this scoundrel preyed on eight- or nine-year-old girls.

The next day, the group, who had planned to celebrate by bringing some good stuff, heard the news of Bonova's death and new rumors. It was said that Bonova was one of the suspects in the bribery case, had a lot of evidence, and was preparing to turn himself in, but was killed by the rest of the group.

The remaining eight people immediately realized this was nonsense. There was no bribery involved, the surrender was also nonsense, and the idea of ​​being silenced by accomplices was even more impossible.

But since the person had died, they had to cancel their original celebration plans and meet again in the deserted manor.

"It was definitely Ronan who did it."

"You don't need to tell us, but we have no evidence."

"What do we do now? This guy might kill someone again."

"What's there to be afraid of? Bonova was clearly killed because he didn't get along with him. We didn't have any direct conflict with him. Do you think Ronan would come and kill us?"

“Indeed, this guy has only been the secretary-general for a few months. He certainly doesn’t know enough about things outside of Wright City. We are safe.”

"You all don't understand this person at all. If you push him too far, he'll kill everyone who's suspected, believe it or not?"

"He'll be finished if he kills so many people."